Eggs and Nest—The nest is generally built of sticks and grass, lined with feathers, and either in the marshes or on the banks of a stream, and rarely if ever contain more than six or seven, and often not more than four, eggs of a very light brownish white.
Measurements—Wing, about 19 inches; bill, about 1 3/4 inches.
| WHITE-CHEEKED GOOSE (Branta canadensis occidentalis) |
THE WHITE-CHEEKED GOOSE
(Branta canadensis occidentalis)
The white-cheeked goose, known also as Mexican goose, is found only on the Pacific Coast and never east of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, or the Sierra Nevadas in California. In fact, they are generally confined to localities not far from the ocean. While both the honker and the Hutchins goose have a white cheek, the white of the honker meets under the chin or blends into a gray, but the white of the white-cheeked variety is separated either with a distinct black stripe under the chin or a mottled black and white one. Also the black of the neck of the white-cheeked goose and the brownish gray of the breast is very generally separated by a white collar, though sometimes this is so faint as to be almost indistinguishable.
The white-cheeked goose is rarely seen south of Monterey Bay, California.
Color—Same as the Canada goose, except that the white on the cheeks is either separated under the chin by a black stripe or by only a very few white feathers in the black. Between the neck and the dull gray of the breast is a narrow white stripe, or collar. This some times is very faint, and, in fact, some times, though very rarely, absent. This absence of the collar is quite likely caused by its inter-grading with the Hutchins goose.
Nest and Eggs—The same as the Canada goose.